Just One Night

by capricapra

Taste of The Forbidden Contest Entry- it won an Honourable Mention- Public Vote. Nominated for Energize WIP Most Promising Fan Fiction Award- canon. Edward desperately wants his wife's sister, Bella. The feeling's mutual. Neither want to tear their family apart, but their desire is overwhelming. They decide to have just one night together, but will it be enough?

3. Chapter 3

AN: Hello everyone! As promised, here is the next instalment of 'Just One Night.'

Thank you so much to everybody who has reviewed, both on the Taste of the Forbidden Contest post and on this one. And a big hello to everyone who's added me to favourites and follows. If you've found this story via a teaser site, another big hello! I've not used them before and I have definitely seen a big increase in visitors since posting on them! A big, huge, massive thank you to Cared for helping me out with them!

I did mean to find a beta for this story but I haven't had time thanks to lots of real life pressures! Thanks to TwiMarti for beta'ing the original story. Hopefully there aren't any horrible mistakes.

Alice is a very important character for this story and this chapter focuses a lot on her. The next chapter will have a lot more Bella.

I really hope you like where this goes... please let me know either way!

Disclaimer: The Twilight series and its original characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just borrowing them for a while, making them British and making them do naughty things! This plot belongs to me, British-isms and all.

Just One Night

Chapter 3

Alice Cullen watched her father climb into the taxi, lean forward to speak to the driver and then lean back in his seat, tugging at his hair as the cab pulled away from the kerb.

As soon as the cab had turned the corner, Alice crossed the road, sat down inside a nearby bus shelter and pulled out her phone to call the person she felt closest to in the world apart from Edward.

"Hey Bubbles! What's the hap? Are we still on for later?" Alice was supposed to be meeting him at Leicester Square for ice cream at the Haagen-Dazs cafe and a 3D movie at the Trocadero. She'd been looking forward to it for several weeks, ever since they realised that they both had Teacher Training Half-Day on the same day.

"Um...I'm not sure, Zippy. Some weird shit's going down with the 'rents." Alice replied, twiddling the tassels on her non school-regulation purple scarf nervously.

"Hey, are you OK? What kinda weird shit?"

"I'm fine, Zips. I just bumped into Dad leaving our house looking totally super-freaked. He told me to go home and not to go upstairs until my mum came down. Then he said he had to be somewhere urgently and jumped into a black cab."

"Your dad home in the middle of the day is weird enough. He's like the dictionary definition of workaholic."

"I know, right?" She loved the way he just instinctively understood. "And I don't know what Mum could possibly be doing that he wouldn't want me to..." Alice suddenly had a horrible suspicion. "...unless...shit!" She heard Zippy take a sharp intake of breath at the same time as he realised too.

"Double shit! You don't think that he found out about your mum and The Ri-dork-ulous Shitface, do you?"

"That would explain Dad's freak-out face, but Mum usually sees The Ri-dork-ulous Shitface on Tuesdays evenings and Saturdays, when she says she's going to Zumba. Today's Friday."

"Well, there's only one way to find out, Bubble-icious."

Alice glanced apprehensively at her house down the road.

"You're right, Zips. Stay with me, 'K?"

"Of course. I'm right here, Kid." She had to smile when he called her 'Kid.' He wasn't actually that much older. She was turning fourteen in a few weeks, and he had turned fifteen on Valentine's Day.

Alice got up and walked back to her house. She fished out her keys and as quietly as she could, opened the door.

At first she could hear nothing but her best guy's quiet breathing on the other end of the phone. She slowly walked up a few stairs and it was then that she heard them. Moaning and groaning. Headboard banging against wall. A couple of muffled words from her mother's voice and a couple from the voice of The Ri-Dork-ulous Shitface, her father's supposed good friend, Mike Newton, who creepily insisted she call him 'Uncle Mikey.'

Alice quickly and silently made her way back down the stairs.

"She's definitely up there with him." Alice whispered, shuddering lightly. "And they're still going at it." Yucksville Central. She spotted an empty brandy glass on the sideboard. "And I'm sure Dad must've seen or heard them. He's been drinking brandy. There's an empty glass here. He only drinks it when he's stressed. The shit has most definitely hit the fan, Zippy."

"Hit the fan and got spread round the room." There was a pause on the line. Alice could practically hear his cogwheels turning. "Alice, hide the brandy glass, Kid. You don't want your Mum to cotton on that he knows yet. Or that you know."

"Shitsticks. You're right Zips." Alice grabbed the glass and hid it in one of the sideboard cupboards. "Done."

"You need to pow-wow your little bum outta there Bubbles, before your Mum realises you came back. I'm leaving the school grounds now. I can be in Leicester Square in 20 minutes."

"Wait. I need to change! If I go to Leicester Square in my school uniform the truancy police will have me! That's why I came home in the first place."

"Rookie mistake Kid. Keep a change of clothes in your gym locker."

"No shit. Learnt that one the hard way, Boss! Doesn't help me now though, when I can't go upstairs!"

"Have you got anything in the laundry room?"

"Good thinking Zips. I knew there was a reason I loved you!" Actually there are a thousand reasons. Alice padded into the laundry room, which also had the back door to the garden. "Aha! Suc-a-cess!" She said as she spotted her violet skinny jeans freshly cleaned, pressed and folded on top of the clean laundry pail, with her long-sleeved black, violet and pink striped t-shirt underneath.

"OK good. Hurry up Bubbles!" Alice put the phone down for a moment and quickly changed, hiding her school skirt, shirt and blazer at the bottom of her dirty laundry pail. The Cullens employed Nettie, who cleaned the house twice a week and did the laundry. Jessica would never go anywhere near it to find Alice's hidden school clothes. She wrapped her purple scarf round her neck, put on her black school pea-coat and then slipped on a pair of clean purple socks and the flat black pumps she had worn to school. They weren't the coolest accessories but they'd have to do.

"Right, I'm good to..." Alice suddenly heard voices on the stairs, and they were getting louder. "Bloodyfrickingcowshit, Zippy, they're coming down!" she whisper-yelled.

"Hide or something!" In her panic, Alice looked left and right before tucking herself behind the laundry room door and almost fully closing it. Sometimes being 5'1" and skinny was an advantage. As an afterthought she opened the back door a little. She knew from experience that it opened loudly but it could be closed silently.

"I'm OK Zips. Go to Leicester Square. I don't know exactly how long I'll be but I'll text you the second I'm on the way, 'K?"

"'K. Love you Bubbles. See you very soon." Alice's heart swelled. It was usually her that said 'Love you' first.

"Love you."

Alice ended the call and then had an idea. She found the voice recording app on her phone. She loved her mother, but she loved her father more. She cherished being the apple of his eye. Alice had kept the knowledge of her mother's affair secret for the past eighteen months because she wanted to protect Edward from heartbreak, and to delay their descent into divorce as much as she could to preserve their family life.

However, now that Edward knew, Alice saw that her parents' break-up was inevitable, and she was firmly on her gentle, hard-working and devoted father's side. She had inherited his almond-shaped eyes (although hers were blue not green), aristocratic high cheekbones and straight nose, the red tint in her otherwise blonde hair, his goodness and his industriousness. If it came down to a custody battle, she'd do whatever it took to stay with Edward, including resorting to espionage tactics.

"...you can't blame me for getting impatient, Jessie." She heard The Ri-dork-ulous Shitface say in his whiny voice. Alice just could not fathom how her mother could want fugly Mike over her handsome father.

"I don't blame you Mikey, but we've come so far with this plan. He's going to cave soon, I swear. Edward's miserable as fuck. He's sleeping in the spare room. I haven't so much as pecked him on the cheek since his parents' funerals. We never talk, not even to argue. He tells himself that loves me at the very least because I gave him Alice, but deep down he's totally ambivalent. If he cared, he'd argue with me."

"Why can't you just tell him you want a divorce, babe? I make way more than he did when he was at the agency. More than enough to support us two and little Alice." Mike asked. Alice felt like retching. It would be a cold day in hell before she shared living space with that creep-a-zoid.

Jessica sighed.

"Like I told you, Edward has to be the one to instigate the divorce because the pre-nup states that if Edward asks for a divorce, I get one third of all his assets and alimony. If I instigate it, I only get the alimony." Jessica replied coolly. "Do you know what one third of £10 million pounds is, Mikey?" she added, rhetorically. From her hiding spot behind the laundry room door, Alice nearly dropped her phone. She had no idea her mother could be such a gold-digger. Whoa Mummy dearest, my respect for you has totally hit the floor.

"I guess you can't sniff at £3.3 million." Mike agreed. He opened his mouth to ask something else but Jessica pre-empted him.

"And I can't reveal our relationship until after the divorce goes through because if Edward proves I've been unfaithful I get nothing. Not even alimony. Just child support."

"What were you saying about if Edward's unfaithful?"

"If I can prove Edward's been unfaithful before the divorce, I get half his assets, so five million pounds, and alimony. But I tried my hardest and he's squeaky clean, the bastard. So we'll have to settle for the 3 point 3."

"Yeah, he never once tapped any of the girls at the office, even though they practically shoved their tits in his face."

"Way to make me feel bad, Mikey!" Jessica cried, feeling a flash of guilt. She quickly suppressed it though. She was good at keeping guilt at bay.

"Aww, sorry babe. Besides, it's different with us. We're in love and it just so happens that our relationship has overlapped with your marriage for a few years." He replied, taking her into his arms. Alice almost retched again at the sound of him and her mother kissing and giggling.

"I like the way you think, Mikey-poo." Alice's stomach was hurting because she was cringing so much. Mikey-poo? Gross gross gross gross gross!

"Aww, babe, I am going to miss you so much when I go to New York tonight!" Mike whined.

"Oh, Mikey...I'm going to miss you too!" Jessica squealed. "Two weeks is such a long time! I've got the trip to the spa hotel in Bath this weekend to distract me but I don't know what I'm going to do with myself!"

"Maybe see your sister?"

"Oh, no can do. Bella's got transferred back to California." Jessica replied a little sadly.

"Aww, are you gonna miss her?"

"I guess. I don't have much family Mikey, and even though I'm jealous as hell of her because she's the pretty one and the smart one, I did love having my sister around. It's different to my friends, although I can't explain why." Jessica explained, unable to identify that the thing that set apart her relationship with Bella was the fact that her kind and warm-hearted sister genuinely cared about her, and her superficial friends didn't.

"You know, I don't agree." Mike began. Alice could hear him kissing some part of her mother, and Jessica sighing. "You are most definitely the pretty one. The prettiest one!" He told her, although he'd never met Bella so couldn't actually compare the two.

"Yeah?" Jessica replied with playfulness in her voice.

"Yeah!" He echoed. "So, why don't you come show me exactly how much you're gonna miss me...?"

Then there was the sound of smooching, giggling, panting and a chair being scraped back. Alice had heard enough. Vibrating with disgust, she quietly picked up her bag and snuck out. Jessica and Mike were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't hear the tiny click of the back door shutting and the light footsteps scurrying away through the side gate.

-cc-

Ten minutes out of Hampstead and Edward was driving himself and the taxi driver insane with his anxiety. Fridays were a bad day for traffic in London, not that any day was particularly great and the North Circular Road was jammed. The taxi driver didn't help by asking Edward which of the five airport terminals at Heathrow he needed to get to; Edward didn't have a clue.

"Well what airline is she flying with?"

"What makes you think it's a 'she'?"

"No man gets as stressed as you are unless a girl's involved." The taxi driver replied, smiling. Edward was too worried to laugh at the driver's observation but agreed with it.

"True. Very very true." He said. "But I don't know which airline! All I know is that she's on a flight to San Francisco at around 2pm."

"Do you have internet on your phone? You could Google the flight times?" The driver suggested. Privately, he suspected that his passenger's mission was going to end in tears, especially given the traffic and the high likelihood that the girl was through security already, but he wasn't about to lose the fare.

"Yeah! Great idea!" Edward replied.

A few taps in his iPhone later and Edward groaned.

"United and British Airways both have flights to San Francisco leaving between 2pm and 2.10pm!" Edward wailed.

"Damn, they fly from different terminals. Is your girl American?"

"No, why?"

"If she's American, she'll probably fly United. If she's British, she'll probably fly BA." The driver reasoned.

"She's British but she works for an American company, who will be paying for her flight, so she's probably flying United!"

"Terminal One it is, then!" The driver replied, not wanting to point out that they'd only moved one mile in the past five minutes. Edward relaxed for a moment and then tried Bella's number for what felt like the hundredth time.

"The number you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please try again later. The number you are trying to reach is..."

-cc-

Bella had, like the driver suspected, gone through security and was sitting in the United Airlines-affiliated First Class Lounge. Apart from a couple of businessmen asleep in one corner, it was deserted, which was preferable to Bella. She was trying to hold onto her tears and the contents of her stomach. She had packed her iPhone in her luggage to stop herself from contacting Edward, but now she had nothing to distract her apart from a well-thumbed newspaper.

"May I get you something to drink, Miss Swan? I can recommend our Lanson Ivory Label Demi-Sec, or if you prefer something drier..." An attendant asked, not realising that Bella had already politely dismissed her colleague.

"No thank you. No champagne. No alcohol..." Bella's stomach suddenly lurched violently. "Please could you point me in the direction of the ladies' room?" She asked, standing up suddenly. The attendant showed her the way.

Bella barely made it to the loo before throwing up three times in quick succession. When she had nothing at all left inside her, she sat on the floor of the cubicle and gave way to the sobs, while running her hands over her tummy, which she'd realised, for the first time that morning, was very slightly protruding instead of pancake-flat like usual.

Fifteen minutes later, Bella emerged from the ladies' room with red-tinged eyes, quickly put on her sunglasses and sat back down in her seat. The kindly attendant came forward with salted crackers and a paper cup of peppermint tea.

"I thought you might need these." She offered.

"Thank you." Bella replied, her cheeks colouring at the realisation that the attendant had heard her vomiting and crying, and had clearly drawn conclusions, correct ones.

"Your flight is boarding, Miss Swan. If you like I could accompany you to the gate?" Normally Bella would politely refuse such an offer, but today she needed the support.

"Thank you. That would be great." Before Bella could pick up her bag, the attendant had done it for her.

True to her word, the attendant, whose name was Julia, walked with Bella all the way down to the gate, right to the door of the flight. Bella, usually quite shy, was so grateful that she gave Julia a hug.

The aeroplane doors shut fifteen minutes later. Bella had a window seat but couldn't bear to look out of it to see the plane leave London, to feel her departure from the only man who'd truly touched her heart. When the plane finally took off, Bella allowed just one solitary tear to escape down her cheek and rubbed her tummy again. It's just you and me now, Little One.

-cc-

Half an hour after Alice escaped from her house in Hampstead, she got off the Tube at Leicester Square Station. She walked into the main square and started looking around.

"Alice!" She turned in the direction of the Haagen-Dazs cafe to see a tall, blond, lanky teenage boy running towards her.

"Jasper!" She ran towards him and he caught her in his arms, lifting her off the ground.

"Oh, Bubbles, are you OK?"

"I am now, Zippy." She replied, resting her head against his chest. He tilted her face up and kissed her sweetly on the side of her mouth. Why, o why, do you have to be my dad's cousin?

They both wanted to kiss each other properly, ever since the summertime when they first discovered they liked each other far more than they should, but agreed that it was too soon. Although young, they both knew that their relationship was very special, that they shared a forever kind of love, and that they didn't have to rush the physical side of it. They also agreed that it was imperative that neither set of parents found out, which was when they came up with their nicknames for each other. Alice was 'Bubbles' because everyone told her that she had a bubbly personality, and Jasper was 'Zippy' because he liked running and was really fast, really, well, zippy.

"Ice-cream?" He asked, taking her hand. "The cafe's actually not too crowded for once."

They shared a banana split with cookie dough, Belgian chocolate and strawberry cheesecake ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream, as well as having hot chocolate with marshmallows. They both had a strong sweet tooth in common. Whilst eating, Alice filled Jasper in on the conversation she'd overheard between Mike and Jessica.

"Amazing shitballs, Bubbles!" Jasper exclaimed.

"It's all so fucked up, Zips." Alice confessed. "It's like a bloody soap opera, except it's my life!" Her eyes started misting and she dabbed at them with napkins. "My mum's sleeping with my dad's best friend, who's a creep, and she's trying to screw him over for money. My dad has found out about my mum cheating and has disappeared somewhere in the back of a Hackney Carriage. My aunt, who's the loveliest person in the world, has pissed off back to America." She ranted. "It's been, like, the most spectacularly fucking piece of shit week ever!"

"It'll all work out, Bubbles." Jasper tried to soothe her by wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple. "Edward and your mum are better off split up. And you're old enough that, if it comes to a custody fight, you can tell a court who you want to live with and why."

"You think?" Jasper nodded. "I wonder...do you think Dad might have gone to see your mum?" Alice asked suddenly.

"Of course!"

Esme had acted as the Cullen family's lawyer since she married into the Cullen family nearly 30 years earlier, and along with her doctor husband Carlisle, Edward's uncle- the younger brother of his father Edward Senior- was executor of Edward Senior and Elizabeth Cullen's estate. Esme had also drawn up Edward and Jessica's pre-nuptial agreement at Edward Senior's insistence.

"She'd know all about the money and the pre-nup stuff!"

"Why don't we go see her? She won't mind if we crash her office."

"But Zips, won't she suspect something's going on between us if we pitch up together?"

"Why? We're supposedly like brother and sister, right?" Alice nodded. "Don't brothers and sisters go for ice cream together? Rosie and Lottie used to take me out for ice cream all the time before they went to uni." Jasper said, referring to his older twin sisters Rosalie and Charlotte, who were twenty-six and worked as a litigator and a theatre actress respectively. Jasper had been a late surprise baby for Esme and Carlisle at the age of forty. "And the less we try to explain, the fewer questions she'll ask." He added.

"True, I guess." Alice had sometimes gone on trips for ice cream with Jasper, Rosie and Lottie. She used to always come back wishing she had a sister or a brother. It was lonely, being the only child. "OK, let's finish up and go."

-cc-

At 2.32pm, after spending 90 minutes in crawling traffic, Edward's taxi screeched to a halt in front of London Heathrow Airport Terminal One.

"Go Edward, go!" The driver, Mark, yelled, once Edward had paid him. "I'll wait five minutes, just in case." He couldn't help but like his passenger, running after his pregnant girlfriend like something out of a movie, even though he was certain that it was going to be a fruitless mission, that the chances of the flight being delayed were slim. Sure enough, not two minutes later, Edward stumbled out of the terminal, shoulders slumped, looking broken.

"She's gone. The flight left at 2.09pm." He choked out before climbing back into the cab.

"I'm so sorry." Mark started up the engine again. "Shall I take you back to Hampstead?"

Edward was so caught up in his disappointment that he didn't answer straight away.

"What? Oh sorry, umm...no." The logical part of Edward's brain kicked in all of a sudden. "Please could you take me to Harley Street?" Harley Street was famous for being where London's best doctors had offices, but it was also home to Cullen and Associates, his aunt's law practice.

"No problem."

Edward spent most of the journey lying back with his eyes closed, letting the bitter, crushing pain of disappointment wash over him. However, as the cab trundled back into Central London and approached the Marylebone flyover, he realised that he couldn't dwell on his heartbreak over Bella any longer because he had another girl to worry about. Alice. He had made a mistake sending her back into the house. She was extremely bright and inquisitive; she'd probably completely disregard his instructions to wait for Jessica to come down, and even if she had listened to him, she'd know what was going on the second she laid eyes on Mike coming down the stairs. Oh, God. She's going to be traumatised for life.

He pulled out his phone to call his daughter. It went straight to voicemail, which worried him.

"Hi Alice, it's Dad. Please can you call me as soon as you get this? I'm so sorry I ran off like that and you've probably got a lot of questions, so we really need to talk. I love you, princess."

-cc-

It was a good thing that Esme Cullen was just doing some paperwork that Friday afternoon because her whole day was able to be turned on its head.

"Yes, Lucy?" She said into the intercom on her desk when her new assistant buzzed.

"Sorry to bother you, Mrs Cullen, but there's a...hey, you can't go through there without...hey!"

A second later, Esme's youngest son burst through her office door with her great niece.

"Mum, sorries to crash but it's mega-important!" Jasper cried.

"Jasper! Alice! Why aren't you two in school?" Esme replied as the two rather flushed teenagers collapsed in the leather chairs on the other side of her desk, but then she remembered. "Oh, is today Teacher Training half-day?" They nodded.

"Mrs Cullen, I'm so sorry!" Lucy exclaimed, running in a moment later. "They just ran past when I was..."

"Lucy, relax! Meet Jasper, my son." Jasper waved meekly. "And my great-niece, Alice." Alice waved feebly and didn't look up. Esme looked over the teenage girl shrunk back in the chair and was immediately concerned. "Please could you hold all my calls except from my family?"

"Of course." Lucy quietly left the room and Esme came round the desk to kneel in front of Alice.

"So, what's wrong, munchkin?" She asked gently. Alice, who had holding it together pretty well until that point, burst into tears when she felt Esme's natural maternal warmth, maternal warmth that she didn't really feel from Jessica, who sometimes made her feel more like her little shopping buddy and Barbie Doll, instead of like her daughter. Esme put her arms around her and let her cry into the shoulder of her black Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress. She glanced over at Jasper who was looking at Alice worriedly.

"M-M-Mum and Dad are going to split up. Mum's been cheating on Dad and he's found out." She sobbed.

"What?" Esme asked. She wasn't surprised; it was quite obvious to her that Edward and Jessica were not happily married, but she wanted to know how Alice had come to the conclusion that Jessica was cheating. "Start at the beginning, Alice."

"Mum's been having an affair with Dad's friend Mike for ages, but I found out a couple of years ago. It was the day we found out that Grandpa Ed and Grandma Wizzie had died. Dad was at work when the police from Australia called about the accident. Mum answered and after the call ended, she sat me down and told me what happened. I got really upset so Mum made me a hot chocolate with marshmallows and sprinkles and told me to go upstairs for a lie-down." Alice paused for a moment, remembering both the pain of that day and the fact that Jessica could be maternal when she wanted to be.

"I fell asleep for a few minutes but then I woke up because I needed to call...a friend." She continued, not wanting to say that she'd wanted to phone Jasper. Even before they developed romantic feelings for each other, Alice and Jasper had been close. "I'd left my mobile downstairs so went to get it and that's when I heard Mum on the phone. She was saying that she couldn't get away to meet whoever was on the other end, and that she didn't know when they could pick up again.

"I went back upstairs and picked up the other phone, and was really shocked to hear Mike's voice."

"Mike...Newton?" Esme asked. Jessica was having an affair with one of Edward's closest friends? That slutty cow! And with Mike? That dickhead?

"Yeah. He was calling her 'babe' and told her that he loved her and that when she was free he was going to..." Alice couldn't bring herself to use the exact words Mike used to describe having sex with her mother. "...do stuff to her, and she, um, liked the sound of it." Esme's eyes widened. Oh God, poor Alice.

"So what happened today?"

Alice described the events of earlier in the afternoon but didn't tell Esme about the pre-nup conversation she'd overheard.

"...so now I don't know where he is! He's disappeared and he's probably really upset and it's totally my entire fault!" Alice cried.

"Alice, why do you think it's your fault, munchkin?"

"If I hadn't kept it to myself, he wouldn't have found out like that, and he wouldn't have been so miserable for ages and ages!"

"It isn't your fault, Alice. Sometimes adults who aren't happy in their relationship seek comfort with someone else. Your Mum and Dad might be able to work things out."

"I don't want them to! I don't want to see her ever again!" Alice exclaimed loudly. "She's a complete bitch for what she's done to my dad!"

"Alice, I know you're upset but there's no excuse for that kind of language, young lady." Esme chastised, although privately she agreed.

"Sorry." Alice mumbled.

"You need to tell Mum the thing about the pre-nup, Alice." Jasper said.

"Pre-nup?"

"Mum wants Dad to divorce her because that way she gets more money and she said that if Dad found out about her and Mike she'd get nothing. She even said she tried to catch Dad cheating because then she'd get more cash. But she didn't find anything so she says she'll have to make do with the three point three million."

Esme's jaw was on the floor. She had always known Jessica was selfish, but to hear that she was a money-grabbing gold-digging bitch was still a shock.

"Alice are you sure about this?" she checked. Alice brought out her phone and played Esme the recording she'd already shared with Jasper.

"...If I can prove Edward's been unfaithful before the divorce, I get half his assets, so five million pounds, and alimony. But I tried my hardest and he's squeaky clean, the bastard. So we'll have to settle for the 3 point 3..." Jessica's voice rang out clear from Alice's iPhone.

Esme almost rubbed her palms in glee at the thought of the divorce.

Just then, her intercom buzzed.

"Yes?"

"Um, there's an...um...uh...Edward Cullen...here..." Lucy stuttered out, Edward's handsome appearance having completely floored her.

"Send him in."

Edward strode through the door and froze when he saw his tearful daughter sitting there.

"Princess." He said simply before kneeling down on one knee and opening up his arms.

"Daddy!" Alice ran into her father's embrace.

"I'm so sorry Alice! I should never have sent you in there, knowing what you..."

"No Dad, I'm sorry! I've known about Mum and Mike for ages. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get hurt and I didn't want you and Mum to split up, but it's not right for you to stay together. I see that now. You're miserable, and I'm sorry I kept that going."

"You knew?" Alice nodded, fresh tears running down her face. "Oh, my poor baby girl!" He wiped her tears away with his thumb and hugged her again. "You carried the burden of that knowledge for me?"

"I love you Dad. I thought I was doing the right thing."

"Alice Elizabeth Cullen, none of this is your fault. Now I don't know what's going to happen from here on in, but there are two things I want you to be sure of- that I love you more than life itself, and that this mess is 100% not your fault, OK?" He emphasised. "Now I need to talk to Aunt Esme about some things in private, and then we're going to talk about what happens next." He glanced up at his aunt who nodded, already forming a game plan in her mind.

"Jasper, why don't you take Alice to the staff room and watch some TV? We'll come and get you when we're done."

"Sure Mum. Come on Alice." Alice got up and followed him out the door. As soon as it was shut, Esme strode over and gave her nephew a hug.

"Oh Edward, what a day!" To her surprise, Edward started laughing, although it wasn't because of humour.

"Aunt Esme, Jessica's infidelity isn't the half of it."

"It isn't?"

"No." He replied, walking over to the leather chairs and sitting down. "Listen, what I'm about to tell you goes no further than this room. Client-lawyer confidentiality."

"Of course, Edward. It's a given."

"I mean it. Not even Uncle Carlisle."

"Edward. I absolutely will not divulge anything that you tell me is confidential." Esme reassured him. Rather than sit opposite him at her desk, she sat in the other chair next to him and placed her hand over his. He swallowed hard.

"I've done a really stupid thing, Esme." He paused and she clasped his hand tighter. "I've fallen in love with someone with whom I shouldn't have fallen in love. She's left, and I am heartbroken."

Esme knew instantly who her nephew was talking about. She was good at reading people, even people like Bella, who were reserved and guarded. Esme had spent enough time with Bella at Christmas to realise that she cared deeply for Edward, and whenever she was in the room, Edward could only focus on her, despite trying his best not to.

"Edward, you're in love with Jessica's sister aren't you?"

"Yes." He replied, at first surprised that his aunt had guessed, but on second thought, he realised that if anyone would guess, it would be Esme.

"And she loves you too?"

"Yes." Edward confirmed. "She left because she couldn't stand being in London anymore, seeing me with Jessica."

"So you and Bella...had a relationship. An affair."

"Sort of. We had one night, and then agreed that was it. Because we didn't want to hurt Jess."

"What do you want, Edward?"

"I want Jessica out of my life. I want sole custody of Alice. I want to go to California and get down on my knees and beg Bella to let me be a part of her life and the life of our unborn child."

"Bella's pregnant?"

"Yes." Edward fished out the letter and ultrasound scan picture from his jacket pocket to show her.

"Oh my God." Esme exclaimed.

"I know I've been an idiot Aunt Esme, but it was like we were magnets, polarised towards each other. Lust and love at first sight. And in getting to know her, I see that we're a perfect fit. I need to be with her. I tried to catch her at Heathrow this afternoon but I missed her. As soon as I can, I'm going to go out there to beg her to come back."

Esme stood up and started pacing, running over the minute details of the pre-nuptial agreement she had drawn up.

"Edward, you are not going to like what I have to say next, but it's important." Edward turned and watched her pace, worried. "You cannot see Bella until the divorce goes through."

"WHAT?!" Edward stood up and yelled. "Why the hell not?"

"The terms of the pre-nuptial agreement." Esme stated. "If you are going to instigate divorce on the grounds of Jessica's infidelity, then you have to be seen to have been faithful in order for her to have no claim on any of your assets, right up until the decree absolute goes through. If she gets wind of your relationship with Bella before then, she's automatically able to claim half of your assets, regardless of her own indiscretions. So any contact you have with Bella must be minimal and not be perceived as romantic."

"What? Why was it set up like that?"

"The agreement was designed to protect you from her, not the other way round. Your father, even though he didn't want you to marry Jessica, had no doubt about your ability to stay faithful. He always predicted that you would be the one who'd get cheated on, and you would be the one who would stay committed to her, even if you were unhappy." Esme explained.

Edward started to interrupt but Esme continued.

"But also, the pre-nup was worked out on your assets at the time of your marriage, which were reasonable, but nothing like what you have now. If your parents hadn't died, your assets would have been half a million pounds at the most, and it wouldn't have been such a big deal because if you did end up losing half your assets to Jessica, Ed and Liz would have helped you out."

"Well, Dad was right about me and Jess, except that he couldn't have known about Bella walking into my life and the depth of love I felt for her almost instantly."

"He'd have adored her, and Liz would have too." Esme replied, feeling a sharp pang in her heart at the thought of her late sister-in-law, her best friend. "They always wished you could have found that kind of love. They knew that if Jessica hadn't become pregnant, your relationship would have fizzled out."

"I can't bring myself to regret it. Jessica gave me Alice, after all. But my heart is Bella's. I don't care about the money."

"Edward, Jessica could walk away with half of everything. That's money that could be used to secure the future of you, Alice, Bella and the baby. You'd have to sell the shop, the house, Liz and Ed's jewellery and art collections..."

Edward sat back down to think about what Esme had said. As much as he wanted to jump on the first plane to California, Esme had a point. He could live in a shack somewhere and be OK, but he couldn't compromise his daughter's future, or his unborn child's, not even for Bella. Yet his heart broke at the thought of not being able to talk to her, of not being able to tell her that he wanted a life with her. What if she moved on? Found some other man to play daddy to his child? No, Bella's not like that.

"You have a point." He agreed. "So if the divorce goes through on the grounds of Jessica's infidelity, I'm not obliged to give her anything at all, right?"

"Right...?" Esme replied warily.

"But if she agrees to give me sole custody of Alice and doesn't contest the divorce, I'm prepared to give her some alimony and perhaps a deposit towards a property of her own."

"That's very generous." Edward shrugged.

"I want this divorce to go through as quickly as possible."

"We can put it to her. If she's sensible, she'll accept whatever you suggest, especially when she hears we have proof of her infidelity."

"Proof? What, other than me and Alice seeing it for ourselves?"

"Your quick thinking daughter is so desperate to stay with you after the divorce that she recorded her mother talking to Mike. It's clear enough to stand up in court, if we need to use it."

"Fantastic." Edward replied. He was not a spiteful person by nature, but seeing his daughter's tears and feeling the effects of Bella's selfless but misplaced decision to leave, he wanted Jessica to suffer.

"Are you going to tell Alice about Bella and the baby?"

Edward thought about it for a moment.

"No. Not for a while. Not until this mess has been sorted out. Alice has carried enough secrets for the time being." He replied, pain searing through him at the thought of the burden his little princess had carried for him, for nearly two years.

"Fair enough. I'm just going to nip to the ladies' and then we'll go find her and Jasper, OK?"

Edward nodded sombrely, deep in thought.

No contact with Bella? I might just die. She has to know that I love her. I have to tell her somehow, and beg her to wait for me. There has to be a way.

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AN: So...? Please let me know what you think. All being well, the next chapter will go up in a week's time, next Wednesday.

CC